Te Ni Oeni Kasai
by DororoSaenz
Summary: Two war comrades see each other on the street of a city,one running from the law,and one working for it. Almost complete opposites join forces again, ice and fire.Can the fire melt the ice like she did so many years before? Held off due to no inspiration.
1. Chapter 1, Meeting

Dororo: I'm actually working on about 2 Bleach FanFics, but then I got the urge to write a Samurai 7 one! So, here it is! I have 2 main FanFics I have to work on, this one, and my Bleach one, Menoso Grandeso. But as for my other Bleach one, I forgot what was supposed to happen and, well, the inspiration(aka my friend almost killing me for not finishing it) is gone. But I promise I will work on them! I would have worked on them before, but my computer kinda messed up my account on it so I had to make a new one. Anyway. I'm putting the summary in chapter 1, plus disclaimers. I'm good at writing in 1st and 3rd person and with an OC, but I think I'll write in 3rd person, and an OC. I am no good at summary's, btw.

Disclamer: I do not own Samurai 7.

Summary: Two war comrades see each other on the street of a city, one running from the law, and one working for it. Almost complete opposites join forces again, ice and fire. Can the fire melt the ice like she did so many years before? Or will she be attracted to another one?

* * *

**Te Ni Oeni Kasai**

**Chapter one, Meeting  
**__

Teru-teru-bozu, teru bozu

_ Do make tomorrow a sunny day_

_ Like the sky in a dream sometime_

_ If it's sunny I'll give you a golden bell_

The song, even in the heat of battle would calm her down. It was a year after the war had begun, and the female samurai Kazuka was still able to stay calm. But some of the others in her unit weren't so lucky... Her unit where always the first in battle, the first to die, the last to get off the battle field, which rarely happened. How she got into the unit, she never knew. Maybe it was her ability to stay calm, or to ignore the freaking out comrades around her. Either way, the people who didn't fight, didn't care. All they wanted was for someone to do their dirty work.

That, of course, pissed her off. She never liked fighting, but she didn't hate it either. The rare times that they were able to rest and get off the battle field was, well, rare! And this is that rare time.

"Ugh, I can't believe they never let us take a brake!" one of the other soldiers complained.

"Just enjoy this one while you can! There's no telling when they'll make us fight again!" another one said to the complainer.

"How can we if we know they can attack at any moment?" A third said.

"All of you, shut up." she hissed. She was walking near the three annoyances. They got on her nerves, it was a wonder how they were still alive. She was in charge of looking after them when there was no fighting. "Now, you three bakas, there's going to be another unit we are going to combine forces with. I hear there's a samurai who doesn't tolerate any annoyances, such as you three! I have to watch you three idiots, so if you get killed by him, it will look bad on me, if that happens I WILL HAUNT YOUR SPIRIT." she growled, glaring at them. That shut them up, thank whatever! It was a silent walk with the rest of the unit to the area where they were supposed to meet up with the others.

The area was rocky, covered in blood, pieces of metal everywhere, big ones, small ones. It wasn't rare to see the land like it during war. Kazuka got used to it, even the dead bodies here and there. But the three bakas weren't, they were pointing and making faces at it all.

And she was responsible for them. Joy.

Th rest of her unit were settling down and resting. It looked like the other unit didn't arrive yet, she had time to rest, finally. She sat away from the rest of the unit, under a giant piece of metal that had fallen into the ground at an angle to make the best shade. Her brake was short lived, she heard foot steps a little far off behind the piece of metal. That triggered her instincts, grabbing her sword that was laying on the ground next to her and quickly went to the side of the piece of metal. She looked behind it, seeing many people, possibly samurai, walking towards her.

_The other unit? _She thought. Taking her chances, she got up, put her sword on her back, walked from behind it and to the other people. When she got closer, she was able to verify that they were samurai, there were at least one hundred people. "Are you the other unit?" she asked.

The man at the front of the group, probably the commander, was the first to talk. "If you are part of the Demon Unit, yes." Everyone called her unit the Demon Unit because of how long they could survive on the battle field. Plus, some rumors were spread out between all the other units that there was indeed a demon in it.

"Follow me." she said, turning to walk to the rest of her unit. The other unit followed her. They seemed tired and... oh who cares. "The commander is over there." she said, pointing to the commander. Then she walked back to the giant piece of metal where she was sitting at before. She froze in her tracks, there was a blonde samurai in a red coat sitting at one of the ends of the piece of metal. "Ch.." she mumbles quietly, and sat at the other end of the piece of metal.

She liked silence, but she hated awkward silence, which this was. She glanced over at the other samurai, he had two swords in an S shape sheath, which laid next to him. She stared at him, she didn't know why, she just couldn't take her eyes off the silent samurai. The man looked over at her, she could feel her face heat up, she looked away quickly. Some time later, which felt like hours to her, she asked. "Who are you?"

No answer.

"Oh, c'mon! Who are ya?" she asked, looking at him, no longer feeling awkward but curious.

"Kyuzo." he said, his voice low and emotionless. He didn't seem like the talking type, Kazuka was going to change that.

She got up and walked to him, but kept her distance, "Kazuka!" she said her name, grinning slightly. "You part of the addiction unit?" she asked. Kazuka never remembered the real name of the unit they meet up with. He didn't answer, but stared at...well...nothing.

"Oh cooooooome on Kyuzo~!" she tried holding back her laughter. She used to always play around with people, but ever since she joined in the war, she had to disguise herself as man. But after she learned to trust the ones in her unit, and felt that she was not threatened, she revealed what she really was. She didn't have to hide her real, feminine voice, though after a year of hiding it, her voice was caught between a woman and a mans.

The other samurai kept silent, maybe it was harder to break the mans cold shell than she thought. But she would not give up that easily. She made her brothers more out going, she will make this silent man too.

"Hey-!" she was unable to finish what she was saying. A destroyed robot fell from the sky, falling on the sandy ground, making a strong wind, catching Kazuka by surprise, throwing off her balance. She fell, sliding a little on the ground. "Oiiiiii..." she growled, sitting up. She glared at what was left of the robot. She then figured out that something was missing. Bag? No. Hair hold? No. Wait.. "No! My Teru Teru!" she said, looking around, panicking.

Kyuzo stared at the girl panicking around, yelling; "Teru! Teru!" while looking around. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something that was made out of cloth. It was an odd color, a mixture of red, black, and white. He stood, walking to where he saw it, putting hit swords on his back. He crouched down to pick it up. It wasn't there before, could it be the thing the girl was looking for? It was black and red, but it seemed like that white paint was on it, making a facial expression. He stood up and turned to the girls direction.

The girl turned around, looking at him. She stared at the thing in his hand. Her eyes slightly widened. "My Teru Teru!" she said, running over to him as he held out the Teru Teru. What he didn't expect, was her suddenly hugging him, she must have been very happy to get it back. "Thank you, Kyuzo-Sama~!" she unwrapped her arms from around him, smiling. "This Teru Teru is very important to me. It was a gift from my brothers before they came to fight in the war." she smiled warmly at the Teru. Kazuka took her sword off her back, putting the Teru back on it. She looked back at him, and grinned.

Kyuzo never felt very comfortable around other people, but this girl had a different vibe to her. He, without knowing it, smiled slightly at the girl. It took him years to create his ice cold wall he kept around himself, and this girl had melted it. This girl, Kazuka, had an unusual warm vibe to her.

She came back to her senses, noticing she was standing so close to this man she barley knew. A small blush appeared on her face, staring at the man. She was only used to being so close to men when in a fight or when she was disguised as a man, she never felt uncomfortable until now.

"Kazu-Chan! Kazu-Chan!" that voice annoyed her. It was one of the three idiots she had to watch. Wonderful, he forgot about them. And why do they call her Kazu-Chan? That's not her name! It's a retarded name that a retard came up with! The idiot came into sight, he stopped and stared at the two figures standing there, a red samurai the normal Demon Kazuka, another nickname the others came up with.

She stared back at him, her small blush more visible. The normal Kazuka would never get that close to a man unless in a fight or accident, to see her hugging one changed what the boy thought of her. She was so going to kill him. "Wh..what are you...?" she growled softly, glaring at him.

He kept staring, dumfounded. "D-did I interrupt something?"

Her glare sharpened, how dare he ask something like that. Having to watch him or not, she was going to kill him. Possibly seeing the look in her eye, the idiot left, quickly. "Idiot." she mumbled. She looked back at Kyuzo, it seemed the idiot's presence only a few seconds ago did not bother him. "Er, time to go back and see what's happening I guess..." she said and started to walk away from him and back to the unit.

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Dororo: Sorry I had to stop it here. I also won't be writing a lot since I have to work on my grades. I want to get at least two chapters in of this story in the next day in a half. I need to study for school so I can get into the High School I want to. I can't let my writing get in the way of my school work...


	2. Chapter 2, Kazu

**Chapter Two, Kazu**

It had been years since she last saw the samurai named Kyuzo. The war had ended, but she never remembered how. It's just a good thing because she didn't have to reveal who, or what, she really was. No one would believe her if she told them, and if she showed them, they would call her an abomination. She didn't care what people thought of her, but when it came to what she was, it got to her. She didn't like what she was, anyway, so she never told anyone. She learned what she the hard way, she didn't know until the day she attacked the people in her small village.

Kazuka's mother died when she was still young. She did have brothers and a father, but they had to work three times as hard to support everyone. They didn't have to work as much until Kazu, as her brothers called her, got sick. No one knew how she got sick, or what she was sick with. The only thing they knew was that she was on the verge of death. Her family tried to do everything they could to help her, but nothing worked. Then one day, she was able to finally go outside, that day she suddenly felt better. But when the local boys came to annoy her, she went crazy. They always used to say mean and untrue stuff about her, that day was just not a good idea to.

Everyone in the small village, except her family, thought she was possessed by a demon. She would some times be seen in the heart of the forest, with some kind of evil spirit dancing around her. The day she went crazy, gave them even more proof that she was indeed possessed. She decapitated the boys who bullied her, and some of the village people. That was also the day they left. Or tried to. The village people, or the ones who were still alive, made it so that they would never leave unless they killed Kazuka. Her family did not want to do that, the village people attacked.

That must have been the stupidest thing ever. Kazuka went crazy again, but this time killed all the village people, besides her family. The village was even destroyed by the girl. She was even about to kill her family when that 'evil' spirit came out of the forest, it seemed to calm her down. They discovered that the spirit was in fact a seal for Kazuka. They had to think of a way to bring it with them without it being seen. But it was useless to. They had no time nor knew how. The family left, hoping she wouldn't have another attack.

Then, when the war started, her brothers came to her. They were the only thing keeping her from going crazy. They handed her something, it was a white Teru Teru. They knew she liked the song and made her one. But there was a trick to it, the sealing spirit from the forest was in it. Her brothers left for the war. That was the last day she saw them.

It had been years since she thought of that time, the girl used to always keep that out of her mind. Kazuka was walking around the allies of Kugakiyo, she had to keep a low profile. Ever since the magistrate found out of what she is, they've had their eyes on her. So in a sense, she was running from the law. Her appearance changed ever since the war, she let her hair grow even more, it now reached to her knees. She kept her hair up with the usual pony tail, and wore her sword on her back. She didn't kept the fighting kimono, but wore a very long baggy sleeved shirt, with boots, and wore a dark red cloak.

Today wasn't a normal day, so ta speak. She had three people following her, but they weren't from the magistrate. She was able to catch a glimpse of them a few times when she rounded a corner. They were villagers, great. She stopped but they kept approaching her.

"Great samurai, please help us!" The male said.

"What do you want." she growled. Kazuka never liked being asked for help.

"Uh.. Well.. We would like you to fight the Nobuseri!"

"Been there, done that. Go away." She said, walking away. She had fought enough of those machine samurai in the war. She was no where near wanting to fight them again.

"Please! Great samurai! We beg you!" he said again, the other two where hanging back.

She sighed, "If you can get a strong samurai to help you, I might reconsider." with that, she walked away. She didn't look back, not that they would be able to find one. No samurai would work for them, especially her. She hated villagers of all kinds. No matter who they were. Kazuka ended up walking in a main street, but it was not that crowded. Accidentally, she ran into someone, almost knocking both of them down. She had a bad habit of not watching where she was going, she looked at who she ran into. It was a male samurai, he wore a flight hat with goggles and had orange hair, it looked messy.

"Oops, sorry 'bout that." he said with a grin.

"Eh, it's fine. But it was my fault." she smiled warmly back, then noticed that he had a Teru Teru on his sword as well. "A Teru Teru!" pointing at the white Teru hanging from the sword on his back, she grabbed her sword and showed him hers.

"That's an.. unusual color." he said, inspecting the almost pure black Teru.

"That's what happens during war." she said, laughing slightly.

"You were in the war too?" he asked, looking at her curiously, well, she thinks so at least. His eyes looked closed, how could he see?

"Er, yeah. Wait, you were too?" Kazuka never asked around if people fought in the war just so they can reminisce about it. It was a waist of time, if you ask her. Plus, she hated any and everything about the war. There was no good parts, except for meeting that red samurai. The war had taken away her brothers, what do you expect? A 'happy happy joy joy' dance?

"Yea. Well, I never actually fought." he said, laughing, and rubbing his head.

"Mechanic I'm guessing. You're lucky, kind of. Never had to fight during it. Unlike my unit." she laughed. She was surprised, yet happy that she was able to hold a conversation with another person. Usually she would automatically ignore them, or shoo them away. It felt odd that she was talking to someone so calmly,

The other samurai stared at her, possibly waiting for an explanation.

Kazuka sighed and continued, "I was in the main unit, the first one to go into battle." the look of confusion was still on his face, so she decided to use the nickname of her unit, "The Demon Unit."

"Ooh!" He said, finally getting it. Seemed that more people knew it as the Demon Unit than anything else. She wasn't surprised, though, mostly everyone called it that.

"Uh..huh." she stared at him, he was different from the other war veterans that she saw here and there; he didn't seem to shout all around that he was in the war, or cared that there was no, or barley any, jobs for samurai. Thinking that the conversation was over, she started to walk past the odd samurai.

When she was out of regular ear shot, he yelled, "Oh, I'm Heihachi Hayashida!" at her. She turned around, and waved. But didn't say her name, it was probably rude of her, but she couldn't risk being found. She would have to tell him the next time she sees him, if they ever meet again that is. She turned around and sprinted off the way she was going. She wanted to get out of public as soon as possible, the Heihachi guy yelling over to her could have blown her cover, if the walking in the main street didn't already.

Luckily, she was able to get to an ally way without running into trouble, hopefully nothing else will happen. Kazuka got a place to stay for the night, it was in a cheap hotel. She was finally able to get a good nights sleep without having to stress about being on the look out. It was rare for her to find a place to stay that no one could possibly find her at. And even if they could, she would be outta there before they got to her.

The samurai girl laid on the ground, putting her sword next to her. She wasn't too keen with sleeping on a bed, she used to spend many nights for years sleeping on the ground or in a tree, she wasn't used to the 'comfortable' bed.

* * *

It was midday, which meant people would be buzzing around the city, it also meant the perfect hiding place for Kazuka. It was way too risky to be seen by Ayamaru's men. The search for her died down after a while, but if they saw her, the search would go into full speed again. And this time they might send new guys out to find her. She had learned most of the low rank bodyguards tactics and how to avoid them, but if they sent out new ones, or higher ranked, she'll have more trouble getting away from them.

Normally, she wouldn't be walking around, even during such a busy hour of the day, but even she had to get something to eat, right? She would have gone to where she kept all her food, but Ayamaru's men where there, they had found where she would sometimes spend her nights. It wasn't anything too showy, just a cave like hole in a wall, the entrance to it was covered up and you would have to crawl to get into it, but it lead to a bigger area.

After a while of looking around, Kazuka was unable to find anything that looked good to eat. She decided, after at least two hours of looking, that she would see if Ayamaru's men were still there. It didn't take long to get there, especially if she took a short cut through some ally ways. She stopped about 20 feet away from her food keeping place. She saw the regular body guards that came after her, but also saw two new ones. One had possibly long purple hair that was put up, it also looked like he was wearing lipstick... strange guy. She was able to catch a glimpse of the other new guy, her eyes widened and heart skipped a beat.

Could it really be _him_? He was tall, slender, wore a red trench coat, and had blond hair. He had a permanent scowl on his face. She would know him anywhere. It was Kyuzo. The red samurai she meet many years ago in the war. He was working for Ayamaru? He seemed bored, staring at nothing.

She leaned back on the wall she was hiding behind. _He's in this city, he's working for that damn Ayamaru... _ She thought, trying to process all of this. She looked back beyond the wall again. The red samurai was staring in her direction now. Was he staring at her? She couldn't tell, but it made her feel even more awkward than she did when she first say him again. She hid behind the wall, taking deep silent breathes. She didn't know why she was so worked up over him.

"What is it, Kyuzo." she heard a man say, possibly the other new samurai.

After a while, the red samurai finally said, "Nothing."

If he saw her, then he protected her. Or maybe he didn't see her after all, either way, she was out of the clear and raced off. Her hunger had left her just to be replaced with an odd feeling.

* * *

A/N(I'm finally using this..) : well, not as good as I hopped I could come up with. But that's what happens when you barley get sleep, no? I'll try and update my other stories as soon as possible. The problem is, I all ways get an idea for a new FanFic on a diff Anime. :| I'll work on all of them, hopefully I won't get too over whelmed with the new idea I got. Good bye from Dororo~!


	3. Chapter 3, Hirring

**Chapter 3, Hiring**

It had been a few days since Kazuka had seen the red samurai again, she was still walking around the city. It was odd, Ayamaro's men didn't come after her for some time. Maybe they gave up, or were waiting for the perfect timing. She had been aware of people following, a few times when she rounded a corner, she caught a glimpse of them. They weren't samurai, but farmers. A female, a male, and a young kid. They weren't a threat, at least not to her.

She stopped, which didn't bother the ones following her.

"Excuse me, Great Samurai." the male said, walking up to her.

'_Great Samurai? Well, there's a new one..' _ She thought, and stared at the farmer. Then said, "Yea? What ya need?"

"We were wondering if you would come with us.. We need your help."

'_Wonderful. Usually I would say no, but I have a feeling that they'll keep bothering me...' _ She mentally sighed, "Fine."

All three smiled happily, the little girl grabbed the samurai's hand. "Come on!" she said, then started to lead Kazuka to where ever they were going.

After a while of walking, they came to one of the hotels that were carved into the side of...something. She didn't know, and didn't want to. They lead her in there, she saw another samurai sitting down. He had long brown hair, and wore a white robe.

"Kambei-Sama." The older girl spoke, "We found a samurai." She smiled at the samurai woman, who just gave a blank expression in return.

"Ah. Yes." he said, standing up and walking over to Kazuka. The little girl had let go of her hand when they entered the room. "Who are you?"

"Kazuka." Was all she said.

"Hm.." he looked over her, wondering if she was worth hiring or not. "We'll have to test you." Apparently, he didn't just hire anyone he saw.

"I'm guessing, you fought in the war?" The man gave her a half shocked, half questioning look. So she continued, "When fighting in the war, many samurai picked up things from commanders, or other allies. You, as I can see, have picked up needing to test others, and you take much concentration into thinking it over. Many wouldn't, especially if they were desperate. I can tell that you all don't have much time to look for other samurai, am I correct?"

They all stared at her, until the man named Kambei laughed. "Ah, yes. You would know this by also being in the war?" When he reseved a nod in return, he continued, "I'm guessing you learned to observe things very closely. Like tone of voice, body movement, and eyes."

"Heh. I suppose." It was odd to be holding a conversation with another person, let alone another samurai. "I was part of the Demon Unit." she stated, knowing that name was possibly the only one any other war veteran would remember.

"What? I heard they were all killed during the final battle!" he said, slightly shocked.

Her heart slightly raced, ever since the unit the red samurai was in joined hers, they were all called the Demon Unit. Could there be other Demon Unit samurai out there? She quickly pushed that thought away, replying, "Do I look dead to you? Maybe I'm a ghost haunting the world of the living." she teased, smirking slightly.

The man laughed, "I suppose, since you are possibly the only survivor of the Demon Unit, we don't need to test you."

The man was odd, not needing to test her anymore. Oh well. Meant less work for her, for now at least. Kazuka didn't care about working, but she didn't like tests. To be honest, she hated them more than anything. Well, not really. She hated the emperor more. The bastard, even though she never meet him in person, got on her nerves; all ways sending the Nobuseri to torture the farmers.

"So, what am I needed for?" she asked, shifting all her weight to one foot.

"To kill the Nobuseri." The man replied in a monotone voice.

_'Wonderful.' _ She thought. Maybe this was fate, to be hired by the villagers to kill the Bandits. She would have thought that, if she believed in fate. Kazuka would just call it coincidental that they wanted to hire her, she was a samurai after all, and they were looking for samurai.

Then, it hit her like a ton of bricks. What if they asked the red clad samurai she knew from the war, Kyuzo? He would decline, wouldn't he? The slightly older samurai all ready had a job! And he would think of never stooping so low as to help mere farmers for... uh... what exactly was she getting paid?

"Right." she said, shoving everything else to the back of her mind. "How many other samurai are needed?"

"Six," he replied.

"We've only found you and Kambei-Dono..." the female farmer said. She was dressed somewhat better than the male, and it looked like she never worked a day in her life.

"What about Kiku?" the younger girl cried, she was probably the little sister, they looked alike.

"He's a machine, just like the Bandits." the peasant male said, looking down at the girl with a sad face.

"But he's a good one!" she cried again.

"Komachi.." the older sister said.

Kazuka averted her eyes back to the taller samurai, about to question, but she was stopped when two other presences came. She quickly turned around to the entrance of the room, glaring slightly. When two other, er, samurai – she was guessing – came into view, she reached for her katana. Her hand was stopped by the older man. Glancing back, she noticed that a look in his eye's said that they were no threat.

The man let go, she lowered her hand. A young man, approximately around the age of the older sister, walked in, stopping and staring at Kazuka. "Sensei," he began, "Who's this..?"

"Kazuka, we just hired her." The 'Sensei' replied, he had a hint of annoyance in his voice. No was was able to pick it up, except for Kazuka. Apparently, he really wasn't his sensei by how he was talking.

The young boy's confused expression turned to one of small sadness, he had an even smaller chance of helping the samurai against the Bandits.

A tall machine samurai walked in, holding his large sword on his shoulder. He didn't question the girl, maybe it was the annoyed look in her eye, or he heard what was said. Kazuka quickly noted that this was 'Kiku' as the little girl called him. Besides the fact that he's a machine, why did they not hire him? He seemed dependable enough, or so she thought.

"Katsushiro-kun, Kikuchiyo-kun, did you find any samurai?" the young lady asked politely.

The smaller male samurai shook his head, sighing. "No."

"No one listened to us!" the large machine said, steam coming out of the pipe on its helmet.

'_Great,' _she thought, _'this is going to take longer than I thought...' _She sighed quietly. Then it came back to her, what was she getting paid? _'I'll have to bring it up later...' _Was her last thought before Kambei started talking. She paid no mind to it, just staring at nothing, thinking,

* * *

A/N: Oh, mah, god. This is short compared to the other two! D: Oh...well... Kazu has no idea what she's getting into, does she~? Also, she seems very, er, unobservant when Kiku comes, no? Oh, I just wanted to put that whole 'you leaned whatever during the war' stuff just to get how she knew he was from the war. It's comfussing at that part, I even confused myself a little. I'm just going to say that it's because Kambei wasn't like that before the war.

Disclamer: I. Own. Nothing.

There. :| I might be putting the answers to all the reviews on the Fic now, I didn't know if I should or not, but I'm probably going to. Seems simple. Review please!

Until next time! -acting like Gin at the end, even grinning like him- Buh-Bye now!


	4. Chapter 4, Reunited

"May I suggest splitting up and searching?" Kazuka asked, looking at the younger samurai next to her. She honestly did not know why he was helping them find samurai if he was not hired. She just wanted to get away from him, his depressing vibes were getting on her nerves. Even her black Teru Teru Bozu had an annoyed look on it's face.

"Yea.. That would help." he said, walking away.

"Finally." A small voice said from behind her. Kazuka didn't have to turn around, she already knew who it was. Her little Teru-Teru-Bozu was talking to her like it always did.

"I know, I know. Hopefully we won't see him for a while. I have no intention on going back until nightfall." Kazuka said. She had gotten used to it talking to her, it was just a spirit sealed inside a Teru-Teru-Bozu, after all. That would creep people out.

"I don't like him, Kazu. I have a feeling he's no use.."

"You've had that feeling before. About me. About Kyuz-" she stopped what she was saying, eyes widened.

"What?"

"Kyuzo.."

There he was, the red worrier she knew from the war times.. The only one -besides Teru-Teru – that she could talk to.. He turned and saw her, his eyes widening. _'Kazuka?'_ he thought. He thought he saw her that one day, but wasn't sure. Now, he was. Kyuzo was unable to stop looking at the girl, she looked different than when she was fighting in the war. Back then, she had to wear that ugly samurai uniform. But now..

She had a dark blue bandana on, shielding her hair from her face, except for a small bit that hung from the top. Her black gray hair tied in a high pony-tail. She wore a gray cloak, hiding the rest of her body. Her katana was still on her back like it was back in the war. He couldn't stop staring, neither could she. They stood there, staring for who knows how long. Neither of them daring to look or move away.

He couldn't believe it.. Was he seeing a ghost? He was sure she was killed in the war; she never came back. But, there she was, standing there and staring at him. The red samurai snapped out of his trance, shaking his head slightly.

"Kyuzo!" Oh no. It was his partner. They didn't give up the search for the legendary demon since his stupid employer thought she was alive. But..she was. He couldn't, he wouldn't let that man touch her!

Kyuzo ran to Kazuka, which had snapped her out of her trance. He grabbed her hand as he ran past her, then into an ally.

"What the hell?" she questioned once they finally stopped.

Kyuzo had to catch his breath, he looked around the corner. No one was following them, good.

"Kyuzo!" she growled. He just looked at her, and she froze. Those eyes put her in another trance. She was at a lost for words just by staring into the red eyes. She didn't move, she couldn't, and she didn't want to. Finally, she snapped out of it. "Kyuzo." she said again, but in a calm voice. "I take it you are quitting from your job now?" she got a nod as a response, "I might know some work for you.."

He raised an eyebrow, but followed the girl once she started walking. "What is it." he asked in a monotone voice.

"Fighting the Nobuseri for a village." she replied, then looked at the slightly taller man, "Don't complain. It's either that or try and find other work while dodging Ayamaru's men."

He couldn't argue; she was right, it was the only work around. It was either stoop as low as being a thief, or be some rich bastard's body guard. Plus, if he worked with them, he would be around Kazuka more..

_'No, no! Don't think that.'_ he thought, mentally punching himself. He kept arguing in side his brain, but stayed calm on the outside. He sometimes glanced at the girl walking next to it, but brushed it off as trying to figure out how she was alive. It was a miracle, to say the least, that she was alive. Almost everyone was killed during the last fight. It was a shock even he was still alive.

But, he shouldn't doubt this girl and he knew it. She was announced to be the demon that was dwelling in the unit. When he first heard that his unit would combine to hers, even without knowing she was indeed the demon, he had to admit he was nervous. That day when they met the unit, he was shocked to see a girl such as her meet them and escort them to the commander. It was not that much of a shock once he saw her in battle. Her style was unique, no one would be able to master it like she.

Her sword fighting style was one like he had never seen, and he had seen a lot during the war. She fought with the dull side of her blade her the side of her arm. It was perfect for defending and moving something – such as an attack – to the side, depending on with arm is being used. It was nearly impossible to shove it to the other side, but she somehow managed to do so with ease. He had asked her once to teach him when they got breaks – which happened more because of the two units combining – but she had declined his request. He understood why; it was a family way of sword fighting. The thought of there being an entire family –maybe even a clan– being able to do that astonished him. From then on, he devoted even more of his life to sword training, trying to find worthy opponents.

Even after the war, he still trained whenever he could. He would take on job being a part time body guard. When Ayamaru wanted to hire him, he was excited, of course he didn't show it. Kyuzo thought that if he hired him, the samurai would be able to fight much more. But he barley ever fought anyone. He learned that Ayamaru was looking for Kazuka because he heard a rumor she was alive and in the city. He had even heard that his employer wanted to hire the demon girl before him, but was unable to because of her assumed death.

Needless to say, he was not surprised that the man wanted to hire her. She was, in fact, a demon. After some time of research of the girl, he learned that her family name was Oni, meaning devil in a way. It was no wonder why she was called the demon. He kept on trying to find information on her, but failed to do so. Most of the documents were either sealed away or destroyed. That rose a new question, why would it be sealed or destroyed. Questions about this odd girl kept growing in Kyuzo's mind, most still unanswered.

He wanted, no, needed to know the answers. He wanted to ask now, but was afraid she might attack. Even he, Kyuzo the samurai with almost no emotion, was afraid of this girl, Kazuka. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something blowing in the soft wind as they walked. He identified it to be the girls Teru-Teru-Bozu from the war. It was still black; splattered with blood, oil, soot, and ash. He could even tell by a faint smell coming from it. It seemed to be looking at him. But.. They can't act on their own, can they?

It kept it's eyes on him, then it seemed a small smirk formed on it's face. It was acting on its own. He looked from Kazuka to the Teru-Teru and back, trying to figure out the mystery of the demon samurai girl, Kazuka Oni.

* * *

A/N: Le gasp! Cliff hanga? I dunno.. She had a full name! GASP even more! Wait for the next chapter, my friends~


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